Why do I fight?
by Irish-Ninja
Summary: Very dark outlook through the eyes of a competitor in the Unreal Tournament. I would not advise anyone that struggles with depression to read this story as it becomes very negative compared to my other works. M rating for language and graphic violence.
1. Prologue

I do not own anything in the Unreal saga, all ownership belongs to Atari and Epic Games.

* * *

Why do I fight? 

Prologue:  
Nineteen years… nineteen God forsaken years… Why do I continue to do this? Why don't I just walk away? All I've ever known has been desecrated in my face… all I've ever loved has been destroyed while I stood powerless to do anything… Who am I? Some say I'm a soldier, some say I'm a competitor, some say I'm a killer… I don't know what the hell I am anymore. How can you label something like me? I'm not even a man anymore… I lost my humanity a long time ago… Nineteen years… God why have I been doing this for so long? Why have I let myself become what I am? Why do I keep fighting?.. All this violence… all this killing… what is it good for in the end? Nothing. Liandri's stock goes up a quarter of a cent every time some worthless carcass like me bites it. A quarter of a cent for a life… is that how worthless our lives all are? I'm sorry, I guess I should start at the beginning. There was a time when I wasn't this jaded, pathetic excuse for a human being that I am now. There was a time that I had high hopes. There was a time that I dared to dream of a better day… now I see how stupid I was back then to think there was hope for my life… none of us have hope, at least none of us in this damned "tournament". I was nineteen years old, I remember it like it was yesterday… how I wish that memory would die…

* * *

Told you this is dark, and it only gets more so that way. Hope you will like this story.  



	2. Chapter 1: The Rookie

Atari and Epic Games own everything.

* * *

Chapter 1: The Rookie  
I remember looking at the flyer in my hand. "Action! Excitement! Join the Unreal Tournament!" It sounded incredible, and such an opportunity to make some easy money. Put me in a manmade arena with a bunch of miners and convicts and blast each other with stun bullets, piece of cake for a marine like myself. I thought I needed the change, I was already revered for displays of bravery in the final world war, and I knew nobody would ever dare go to war with my country again. I was so full of pride back then. I was a decorated marine in the NEG armed forces… but I wanted something new, something that would be a challenge, I knew I would get that in the tournament, what I didn't know was I was going to bite off more than I could chew.

I remember how cocky I was as I walked into the Liandri headquarters and signed up for the tournament. I thought I was invincible, that nobody could touch me… the arrogance of youth, it gets us into more trouble than we would ever know. I remember how impressed the recruiters were with my credentials and they immediately assigned me to one of the most elite teams, the Dark Phalanx. I was so excited, I was going to be on the same team as the legendary Eagle. He was a fan favorite in every aspect of the phrase. Women flocked to him, men sat in awe of his abilities… he was invincible, or so I thought at the time. 

I remember the following week when I finally got the call to join them in a tournament match, "Team Deathmatch". This was my chance to either make a huge splash and prove to the world I was the real thing, or I would flop and they would never give me so much as a hello afterwards. I remember how my hands shook as I slid on my grey and black combat gear. I slowly zipped up the front and secured my chest plate. I tightened my belt for the first time and stared down at the stun blasters that sat peacefully in the holsters. Then in he came. Eagle himself walked into the locker room and began to prepare himself for our match.  
"You the rookie?" Eagle asked as he took his shirt off and unzipped his pants. I nodded in stunned awe that he was speaking to me. He stepped into his combat gear and began to fasten and snap it into place. I extended my hand to him and smiled like an idiot.  
"Jordan Thomas." I said, I think my voice cracked from excitement. "It's an honour to meet you, Eagle." Eagle smirked and shook his head.  
"I'm only Eagle in the arena, please, call me Bjorn." I stared in amazement as he took my hand and shook it. "So what's your name for the arena kid?" I didn't know what to reply, I just stuttered like a fool. "Didn't think that far ahead did you?" He spoke kindly to me, like he actually cared… who am I kidding, I was just another rookie that he had to baby sit. He looked me over then nodded. "How about Hawk? Ya like that?" Hawk… what a stupid name, but I didn't think so at the time. I nodded and adopted the name Hawk. A muffled voice rang out from the arena. "Looks like our match is coming up, let's go kick some ass kid."

I stood beside Bjorn, I wouldn't admit then that I was shaking, but I was trembling. The excitement was incredible. It was Bjorn, myself, and two other rookies. The rookie that did the best would become a permanent member of the Dark Phalanx… and I would die before I let someone else get that spot. I remember they led in a scraggily group of cons from a local prison and lined them up. Armed soldiers removed their handcuffs and handed them weak stun weapons, no match for our blasters, but then again this wasn't supposed to be a fair fight. The cons immediately scattered about the arena.  
"Stay together team." Bjorn ordered as the timer counted down. "If we stick together they won't get a single point, and I want a shut-out, do I make myself clear?" We all nodded and followed him into the arena as the buzzer screamed throughout the building.

* * *

Looks like the action is gonna start. Things seem to be going well for Jordan right now, read on.  



	3. Chapter 2: Into the fray

I own nothing, Atari and Epic own all of this stuff.

* * *

Chapter 2: Into the fray  
In we walked, a deafening explosion of cheers came from the audience that sat safely behind the plexiglass walls. Bjorn led us in, I followed him, behind me were the two other rookies, which he titled Condor and Falcon. I never did catch their real names, not that I cared, I was in it for me, not them. All I knew from them was that Falcon was a riot officer who was looking for something more glorious, and Condor was a former Navy seal, kicked out for unnecessary roughness… I didn't even think that was possible. We stuck in a pack for several minutes, Bjorn kept getting all the points, but that was fine, he was the leader after all.  
Eventually Condor got separated from the rest of us. I guess he wanted to prove himself. The scoreboard just ran up soon afterwards. Condor's score rocketed and soon he even passed Bjorn. My hopes died slowly as I watched his score go so high that they had to call the match early because he had eliminated every one of our opponents. Bjorn's score sat humbly at almost half of Condor's. I was next and Falcon was close behind, not that it mattered, Condor's score had blown both of ours away. Bjorn looked furious as Condor came back to us after the match was ended. He screamed at Condor for disobeying an order from a superior. The tongue-lashing was epic, I never thought it would end. Condor began to mouth off back to Bjorn, and eventually he stormed away. Bjorn announced to us that Falcon would be sent down to the minor leagues for development, and I would be given the spot in the ranks of the Dark Phalanx because I followed orders, worked like a team mate and had the next highest points. I trembled as I shook hands with Bjorn and was welcomed into the Phalanx. I never did see or hear from Falcon again, but Condor was drafted by another team who decided his lack of discipline could be compensated by his thirst for violence. I would be a few years until I saw him again, but that is for later.

That night I was taken to the dormitory at the Dark Phalanx training grounds. This place was more incredible than any military base I had ever been at. The facilities were fit for royalty and the food was exquisite. There was a gym and weight room that put the most expensive health clubs to shame. There were many firing ranges and combat training centers, everything from close range combat to sniping could be honed and perfected. The training rooms were only the beginning though. The studies and lounges were magnificent, marble floors and ceilings with beautiful plaster walls. Bookcases stretched from floor to ceiling, educational computers lined the studies and holographic lectures could be viewed by those who wished to learn. I eventually got my college degree from those studies, but that is not important. The lounges were also amazing. Pool tables, air hockey, pinball machines, classic arcade games, soft leather sofas with large screened televisions, it was beyond the comforts of home. Eventually I was led to my room… geez, room nothing, this was a suite. I had my own king sized bed, bathroom, kitchen, living room… it was a small house, it was incredible. It took a long time to set in, but I was there, I was in the grounds of the Dark Phalanx, and my life was going to become more glorious very soon… too bad I didn't know it wouldn't last. I went to the pool that night, I figured I could use some relaxation after my first match. I went out to the pool closest to my dorm, and there she was, laying on an inflated mattress that floated on the surface of the water. She was the most breath-taking woman I had ever seen in my life. She was the kind of woman that you see and you know that there is a God, because evolution could never produce something like this. Her strawberry blonde hair laid loosely about her head and her shoulders and down behind her back. Her delicate eyes were closed in a state of wondrous ease. Her fair skin looked very soft like she was made of a pale silk. Her body was divine, an angel could not look any more perfect. She laid in a small grey and black bikini which showed off most of her flawless physique… I stood there gawking at her like a fool for what seemed like all night. She gently woke and opened her eyes, I tried to regain my composure, but she must have known that I was staring at her.  
"I'm sorry." I said to her, trying to sound shy, but probably just sounding more stupid. She looked at me and smiled, oh that smile, she had a smile that could melt the coldest heart. She slid off the air mattress and swam gracefully towards the edge where I still stood like an idiot.  
"It's alright." Her voice was so soothing, like a fluid harmony drifted through my ears while she spoke. She pulled her wet hair back while she walked up the stone steps of the pool. Her hair hung at about her elbows while her body teased me with just enough shifts to drive my mind wild. She wrapped a towel around herself from the chest and let it hang down a little past her backside. "You're new, aren't you?" she said with a friendly tone, I nodded like a buffoon. "Thought so, I've never seen you around." She put out her thin hand gently. "Arielle Bennet, but the tournament will know me as Galaxy." Arielle… that name… a name even the highest choir of angels would be envious of. I eventually took her hand and gently shook it.  
"Jordan Thomas, but I'm known as Hawk." Arielle laughed, almost like it she was not impressed at first, but then she caught herself.  
"I apologize, obviously Bjorn gave you that name. He has a thing with birds of prey." We sat and talked for a while until she had to go back to her dorm. I knew from the moment I saw her, that if I were ever to marry, it could only be to her. I was captivated by her, if only I knew that the battles in the arena would be nothing compared to the battles I would go through later on because of her.

* * *

Okay, young man with dreams of a big future, check. Mentor for said character, check. Standard issue sexy woman to round it all up, check. Don't go anywhere people, we're just getting started.  



	4. Chapter 3: Thunder Crash

Chapter 3: Thunder CrashIt was only a few months later that I was taking part in broadcasted tournament matches. Myself, Bjorn, Arielle and another rookie named Blake soon became an incredible force to be reckoned with, and our alliance with another team, the Iron Guard, made us that much stronger. I learned to enjoy the life of a Tournament superstar, yeah I had the odd welt now and then from other teams' stun blasters, but that was a small price to pay for the adoration. I couldn't believe it, we would go out somewhere after a show and we would simply be swamped with fans and admirers. I was on top of the world, I didn't think life could get any better… the sad part is I was right, it never did. Anyways, the end of my first season soon arrived, and in the finals it was us against another upstart team called the Thunder Crash. They were a party of former United States army soldiers, special forces I believe. They were led by a powerful man named Bernard, seconded by another man named Othello, and supported by a pair of rookies named Taylor and Malcolm. We had trained for weeks to prepare for this battle. Bjorn clearly would get Bernard, I was given Malcolm, Arielle had the task of handling Othello while Blake was to target Taylor. I remember Arielle was so excited, this was going to be her big night. She was paired off against the second in command of our opponents in the championship match, quite an honour. Normally I would have been upset that I would be stuck against just a raw recruit, but I was happy for Arielle, I guess as long as it was her getting the boost then I would accept it. Little did I know that the rookie I was up against would become one of, if not the most popular combatant ever to compete, and our paths would cross many times as we climbed the ladder. 

Finally the big night came, the tournament championship. This was the Superbowl of the tournament, the big dance, and we were convinced we couldn't lose that night. I remember Blake and I were walking along the halls of the stadium that our match would be held in. As we came into the main corridor where our dressing room was located, we saw the Thunder Crash standing together by an assortment of vending machines. We decided to introduce ourselves, I wished we never had. Before we could even put out our hands for a handshake Bernard was yelling at us, saying how it was men like us that forced them to turn their backs on the military, and that they would show "the man" that Thunder Crash was here to stay. Bernard shouted at us and insinuated that we hated them because of the colour of their skin, we decided it was best to walk away and save it for the match. By the time we arrived at our dressing room we were both steamed, and had the motivation we needed to really make an impact. We suited up and kept ourselves pumped up for our match. It would not be until later in the evening as the teams not in the finals were pitted in smaller matches for the spectators' delight.

Eventually the time for our match arrived and Bjorn called to us from outside our dressing room. He and Arielle stood in their combat gear as we joined them in the hallway. Arielle was so beautiful even in her combat gear. It fit her firmly and left nothing to the imagination, she was the only woman I can think of who could ever make thick acrylic and durasteel plates look good. We set our headsets and walked towards the huge metal door that would slide open any moment once the arena was quickly modified for our match. Then our team's theme music hit and blared through the arena's sound system. I never did ever listen to the song, all I knew was it was a favorite of Bjorn's, some old group from the early 2000's named Pillar, I think the song was called "Frontline"… I don't know I never was into that older music. Anyways, the door slid open and dry ice steamed out from behind us and cloaked us as we stood in the doorway. Bjorn lightly told us to stay there momentarily while laser lights etched the air around us and a powerful floodlight shone from behind us, silhouetting our figures while we stood in an intimidating manner. Bjorn then motioned for us to move out and we walked out through the smoke and acknowledged our audience. I will never forget the deafening roar of the crowd that night. It was ear splitting from the moment our music hit, but simply grew louder and louder as we came more into view and took to the arena. We walked towards our makeshift "base", the match would be a capture the flag game. Yeah it's a child's game, and very old, but it's a much different game when you add stun blasters. Thunder Crash came out after us, their reception was not as warm as ours was, in fact there were even some idiots in the crowd with signs that bore racial slurs, fortunately those morons were evicted as soon as the signs came out. As I watched the Thunder Crash march to their base, ignoring the crowd, I felt sorry for them. They were clearly exceptional soldiers in order to have made it to the final championship, yet they seemed to get no respect, I pitied them… that was my first real mistake of my career... never pity someone who can kill you.

The buzzer rang out loudly and we were on our way. I wouldn't admit at the time, but we were worried about it being a capture the flag match, those were Thunder Crash's forte and we had really hoped for a "deathmatch". We had to quickly form a new plan. Bjorn told us that he and Arielle would attack their base while Blake and I would stand guard. I was a little resentful at first, but it was only fair since Arielle would have had a bigger role if it were a deathmatch. Blake quickly modded his stun blaster into sniper mode and positioned himself high above our flag on a perch in the wall, I didn't really see how he got up there. He was a wiry one, Blake. He seemed very high strung, like he always had to prove himself, he was a good kid but very headstrong... ah who am I kidding, the guy was an idiot. He likely never had many if any friends, he always had to compensate for something, make himself seem tougher than he was... you could only take so much of Blake before you wanted to punch him in the nose. The opening minutes of the match seemed to drag on and on, we saw no action for what seemed like forever. Suddenly Bjorn was led into the flag room by a martial, he had been "tagged" and now had to wait the fifteen second penalty before he could attack again. Arielle soon was brought back to. We waited, then once the fifteen seconds were up they went again, only to be brought back again. Thunder Crash was waiting us out, all four of them simply sat and waited at their flag and kept gunning down Bjorn and Arielle. Bjorn and Arielle were both growing visibly exhausted and Bjorn decided to call Blake to come with them and snipe out the guards to allow them safe passage to the flag. They left me alone and I still waited, and again they would be brought back. This went on for three minutes before the floodgates opened. Bjorn was so tired he could barely jog, Arielle was also thoroughly exhausted, Blake was not in much better shape. The stun charges took a lot out of you in those days, not to mention the endless running around. With no warning all of Thunder Crash stormed us, and my team mates were in no shape to defend effectively. Arielle went down again, as did Blake. I took down Taylor quickly, then Othello and Bernard, I will never forget the deafening screams of the crowd as I took them down by myself, I even heard the faint chant of "holy shit" from the audience as I made those three my bitches. I turned to see Bjorn was taken down by Malcolm, who grabbed our flag and ran like hell. I was too confident in my ability. Malcolm was bigger than me, and wore much heavier armour, I knew I would catch him easily, what I didn't know was he was also counting on it. I chased him down the hall of our base and into the midfield. When I got close enough to fire, I did so… I couldn't believe I missed. Malcolm turned and fired a single blast from his blaster and hit me directly in the chest, sending me backwards to the ground. I checked my HUD, which was shown through a small screen on the wrists of our armour. I was allowed one more hit, so I dragged my carcass off the ground and chased him again. He had already made it to his base when I got to my feet. I ran into his base and was met by Othello, his fifteen seconds were up. I don't know how I did it, but I guess my adrenaline took over from there. I somehow dodged his blast and ran up him and vaulted off his shoulders like a springboard. I turned in the air and gave him two quick shots to keep him out of my hair, again much to the delight of the audience. I landed and kept running, Taylor stood in my way and I shot him down before I was even close to him. My mind stopped thinking of the task at hand though. Something changes in your head the second you hear thousands of screaming fans chanting your name, you lose focus. I found Malcolm rounding the hall towards their flag. I remember being so smug as I sprinted after him. I tightly gripped my blaster and rounded the corner… right into Bernard. He was completely ready for me and blasted me right in the chest, the stun hurt like hell as I fell backwards. I watched as Malcolm stopped and handed the flag to Bernard, who took it and slammed it into the pedestal next to theirs… Thunder Crash had won, and I still laid on the floor stunned. Thunder Crash gathered around and celebrated their victory, they deserved it, they were the better team that night, but many analysts and other competitors told me I stole the show that night. Finally I started to get feeling back in my body and I got to my feet and went to walk away. Thunder Crash saw me walking away and I remember Bernard calling after me.  
"Hey, cracker." he said gruffly, me being the stupid kid I was, turned around. He gave me a cheap shot from his blaster right in the face, it damn near knocked me out. I would have killed the bastard if I wasn't stunned from head to toe, plus the blast would leave a nice burn on my cheek to keep me motivated through the off season. Before I blacked out I could hear them all laughing, well, not all of them, I heard three voices laughing… I remember seeing Malcolm not laughing, he seemed disappointed that his leader had done that… he even seemed a little concerned for me, that was the last thing I saw before I blacked out.

* * *

Stun blaster right in the old face, that's a rough night. Looks like Jordan hasn't made any friends, but he's still living the dream... so why is he so bitter and jaded? Read on.  



	5. Chapter 4: Slight Changes

Epic games and Atari own it not me

* * *

Chapter 4: Slight changes  
It was a long off-season for me. I trained my ass off, lusting for a chance to get my hands around the throat of Bernard. The Phalanx grounds was buzzing for the weeks while new recruits joined up and some members of other teams defected to our ranks. I was so proud of my training over that month and a half. I put on almost twenty pounds of muscle, I had become a much more accurate shot, and I forced myself to be able to take a stun blaster hit better. Bjorn was impressed with my diligence, but many times voiced his concern with me allowing my team mates to shoot me at point blank with their blasters. I know it was all worth it, I trained so hard that I could take a stun blast and most of the time stay on my feet, down to one knee at the worst. I remember mostly though how close Arielle and I grew over those weeks. We had become very good friends, I just wished we could progress that last step. I had grown very fond of her, I think I was falling in love with her… I don't know, it's been so long since I've known what love is.

About a week before my second season Bjorn called us all together. We assembled in the lounge of his wing, he walked in looking clearly distressed.  
"Liandri has passed some new rules for the tournament." he began quietly. He placed a steel pistol down on the table that the couches surrounded, we all stared down at it. "This…. is the enforcer… It will be taking the place of your stun blasters this season." At first we didn't really understand, how could Bjorn be so upset about a new stun blaster? How dangerous could it be? Then he filled us in, these things didn't shoot sonic blasts that winded the target… this thing shot bullets. "Liandri has stated that last seasons ratings dropped by three percent at the end of the season, as a result we now use real weapons in order to keep attention on the tournament." I felt sick as I stared down at the pistol, I wished this was all a bad dream. "So, as a result of this change, fatalities are very possible if not likely. This brings about the next item of change, teams are no longer four members. Now teams can have as many members as they wish, since Liandri hopes at least one fatality will occur every match." There was a deathly silence over the room. Several recruits voiced their disgust and walked out, never to be seen again. I wish I was as smart as they were. "It's been passed that now there will also be weapons that can be picked up in the arena during combat. These weapons include a minigun, a rocket launcher, a shock rifle, the "pulse gun", something called the "Bio rifle", sniper rifles and new prototype weapons called the "Ripper" and the "Flak canon"." I felt ill at every weapon's name. There was another long, drawn out silence until Bjorn spoke again. "This is not what we signed up for people, so if you want out I will understand." A few more members got up and left the room, leaving Bjorn, Arielle, Blake, myself and some rookies. We all were too stunned to speak, Bjorn even seemed at a loss for words.  
"So let me get this straight." Blake started, reaching out and lifting the enforcer. "Liandri expects us to risk death, so that their stock will go up? They think we won't have any issue with these new rules while their ratings go up a few percentages?" Bjorn sighed and nodded. "Ya know what I say then?" Blake spoke again, a strange glimmer was in his eye. "I say we call the Iron Guard. We talk to Brock and Lauren and launch an attack on Liandri itself, they want action we'll give them action."  
"Don't be stupid, Blake." Bjorn said quietly. "Liandri would likely already expect some teams to be unhappy about this, I'm sure they've already planned ahead for this." I reached out and took the enforcer from Blake's hand. I was quite light in weight, yet it seemed very durable. I stared at it for a few minutes, unsure what to think. "Our first match of the season is going to be against the Thunder Crash, I recommend we tighten ourselves up now that the stakes are higher." I still stared at the gun that sat in my hand.  
"Bjorn." I said calmly, I couldn't take my eyes off the enforcer. Bjorn looked at me. "Bernard is mine." I placed the enforcer down on the table, but still stared at it obsessively. "I promise you he won't live to see past the season opener. That son of a bitch is mine."

* * *

So we see the beginning of the tournament we now know. Will Jordan get some vengeance on Bernard? What will transpire next for the Dark Phalanx? You know the drill, next chapter.  



	6. Chapter 5: Season Opener

Atari and Epic own Unreal Tournament and every single thing ever to come out of it

* * *

Chapter 5: Season opener  
As a result of the new weaponry it was no longer safe to hold matches in public arenas. Instead now we were taken to remote areas or secured arenas that were littered with cameras. Our season opener was to be held on a large space vessel orbiting the earth. As our small vessel carried us to the arena, I couldn't help but feel a little weirded out by some of our new team mates. First was Ramirez, he was a good man all in all, but he was unstable and snapped a lot at little things. He was sent to us by a nursing home for the mentally ill, they thought maybe venting his pent up rage would "fix" him. Then there was Nikita. She was a very pretty brunette. She came from a wealthy family, yet for some unknown reason she joined the tournament. She claimed the glamourous life was boring to her, but I think there was more to it then that. Finally there was Ophelia… she scared the hell out of me. A special seat had to be made for her on our vessel. It was secured like a cage, bars all around it and quadruple locked. She sat locked down to her seat with a thick metal bar locked down across her chest, another around her arms and waist, another around her thighs and a final one a little above her ankles. Her ankles themselves were locked with irons and her wrists were handcuffed behind her back, and thick steel casings were locked around her hands to keep her from even moving her fingers. She had a steel mask strapped to her head to regulate her breathing in case she got out of control. The only part of her face you could see were her eyes, they hid behind a thick red plastic visor in the mask. Her eyes seemed vacant and lifeless. She was a freaky one, Ophelia was. Apparently she killed her family in a most gruesome fashion and didn't even bat an eye about it. Afterwards she went on a rampage and killed many people. I never heard how many people she actually killed or why she even went nuts. All I knew was she was damn dangerous, and the federal government sent her to fight for us in hopes that an "accident" would conveniently make her no longer their problem. I tried not to make eye contact with her, but she sat directly across from me. Every now and then she would blink, but otherwise she didn't move. We finally docked at our arena and all got off. Special attendants had to escort Ophelia off the ship by securing her into a harness that locked around her waist and chest. Attached to the harness were three long bars, about fifteen feet long. They led her with the bars, safely out of her reach. I couldn't believe they were so careful with her, I also couldn't believe they were about to unlock her binds. A marshal slowly approached her and shoved a large syringe needle into her arm and pushed the contents into her. She seemed to relax her muscles and the marshals quickly freed her of her locks. They fidgeted with the air regulator on her mask and limited her air intake so that she would be very drowsy when the tranquilizer wore off.  
"The hell is this?" A voice said in disgust. I turned to see Othello and a band of new recruits behind him. Thunder Crash's numbers had certainly grown over the off-season. I pulled out my enforcer and walked towards Othello.  
"Where is he?" I demanded.  
"Who?"  
"Bernard. Where is that piece of-"  
"He's dead." a calm voice said from behind the pack. Malcolm parted the crowd and walked through them. He looked incredible. He had gained quite a lot of weight, all muscle. He donned dark sunglasses and was now sporting a goatee. His entire air seemed to drip with confidence. "You look well, Hawk." I stared at Malcolm for a moment, then shook myself back to reality.  
"What do you mean he's dead?" I hissed. Malcolm was so cool, so calm.  
"I was quite unhappy with his little incident involving you after our match in the finals. I called him on it, more or less push came to shove. He pushed, I shoved, if ya catch my drift." I nodded.  
"So, you run this operation now, huh?" Malcolm nodded to me.  
"Bernard had a good thing going for a while, but soon it become more than the demand of equal rights and respect. By the end of last season he had grown from wanting fairness, to himself being a racist. I didn't want to be a part of a team like that. There's a new Thunder Crash now, and we're going to make up for our actions last year." I nodded as Malcolm spoke, I will admit I admired his bravery. He dared to call his superior on something he didn't agree with, and when he had to, he was man enough to do something about it. Malcolm's way wasn't to get respect by complaining about the hand he was dealt in life, instead he would earn it like any other man, and if someone thought less of him simply by the colour of his skin, he knew he was better than that and reminded his team that they all were. From that moment I knew Malcolm would be a great leader for Thunder Crash, I'm glad that down the road I found out I was right.

Sadly my new found respect for Thunder Crash had to be put on hold. A flying probe came into the room and a voice spoke to us all, stating that the death match was about to start. A loud countdown began, and we all scattered, I think we were all more afraid then anything else. I ran into the cargo hold and found one of the flak canons. I picked it up and tried to figure out how it worked. Othello ran into the room and I quickly blasted him with the first trigger. White-hot shrapnel shot into his armour and knocked him down. The particles bounced wildly, I had to dive to avoid being hit. This thing was scary, but at least I scored us a point without seriously harming Othello. We all tried to fight as best we could, but everyone made sure to only shoot the armour of others. We figured we would just keep low scores and let the timer run down. The plan was working until Ophelia… damn that woman. She found a ripper, and we soon realized how it got its name. She pointed it at a member of Thunder Crash and fired. I'm still haunted by the sound of that damned thing. It's one of those sounds that when you hear you just pray to God that it's not coming for you. It's a sound that instantly turns your stomach. The razor disk flew out of the ripper and slashed through the Thunder Crash member's arm, dismembering it easily. We all paused as the rookie howled in agony and dropped to the floor, blood was everywhere. One of our rookies ran to take the ripper away from Ophelia… she got scared and shot him to, decapitating him in one shot. We were all left with no choice but to gun her down, we tried not to kill her but we had to incapacitate her. I was able to get close enough to shoot her in the back with the flak canon. I was so close that her armour shattered open, but she was relatively unharmed. We grabbed the ripper from her and immediately tried to restrain her. The timer ran down and buzzed loudly as we still fought with this screaming lunatic to subdue her. To this day I don't know why we didn't just kill her there and let that be the end of it. Maybe we thought there was hope for her, maybe we hoped to reach her and give her a second chance at life… maybe we were just stupid. Bjorn reached in and pushed the button on the side of her mask, cutting off her air supply and injecting her head with powerful tranquilizers. Marshals appeared out of nowhere and immediately re-applied her handcuffs, ankle chains, hand casings and the transport harness. As they led her drugged body away, the Thunder Crash rookie died. He bled to death on that opening day match. We lost a rookie also in a gruesome display of needless violence. Malcolm looked at our fallen members and sighed.  
"All this so their ratings will go up a few percentages." No one else spoke. Malcolm met eyes with all of us from behind his dark sunglasses, he nodded specifically to me, I don't know if it was a sign of respect or consolement or sympathy for our loss or what it was, but we connected on that bloody opening day. Malcolm motioned for Thunder Crash to follow him, Bjorn did likewise for us.

* * *

Yup, we've not seen the end of Ophelia don't you worry. Things are going to continue to shape up, but they will be getting more violent from here on out, so if that offends you, turn back now.  



	7. Chapter 6: Hard Times

Epic Games and Atari own it all

* * *

Chapter 6: Hard Times  
Everyone was quiet in the dorms for several days after the season opener, Liandri sent an apology dusted with insincere regret to the families of the deceased… God damned cowards. I remember after three days, Arielle came to my room and knocked on my door. She had a bowl of soup and asked me to follow her, I did, hell if that woman asked me to follow her to my grave I would have. She led me to Ophelia's room and she cautiously opened the door. We walked in quietly to see her fastened down to a wheel chair facing out a window. Her waist, arms and legs were all blanketed in restraining devices and straps, leaving her only the ability to move her head… not that she moved much anyways. An I.V. fed tranquilizers into her arm at a steady pace, leaving her motionless and with a vacant stare. As we walked around in front of her I was honestly shocked at what I saw. I used to think under that mask was a monster who should just be put out of our misery, all I could envision was an inhuman creature under that respirator mask… then I knew how wrong I was. She was lovely, her hair was untidy, and she obviously wore no makeup, and her eyes were devoid of life… but she was still a beautiful young woman. It's funny how just a matter of seconds can change your entire perspective of someone. After seeing her, the real her… I pitied her. It just didn't seem right that someone so frail and soft could grow up to be so… savage. Arielle knelt and gently touched Ophelia's restrained hand.  
"Ophelia? Can you hear me?" Ophelia was motionless for several seconds, then weakly nodded, not looking at Arielle. Arielle took the bowl in her hand. "Are you hungry?" Ophelia again nodded weakly, still staring ahead out the window. Arielle took the bowl and filled a spoon with the soup, she slowly and cautiously moved it towards Ophelia's mouth. Ophelia didn't move, and some soup dribbled down her chin. After two or three tries Arielle was able to get the food into her mouth and Ophelia weakly swallowed. Within a few moments the soup was gone, I still stood back in disbelief that Arielle took such a chance. She stood and touched the side of Ophelia's head, like she was trying to comfort her. "We're here Ophelia, we're going to take care of you, that's what friends do." Ophelia's eyes watered slightly and her mouth trembled for several seconds until she managed to faintly squeak.  
"Friend?..." Arielle paused and stared down at Ophelia, then leaned forward and kissed the top of her head.  
"Yes Ophelia, friend." We slowly left Ophelia alone in her room and locked the door behind us. I was in shock, if I didn't love Arielle already, I did after seeing that. She solidified in my mind that she was special, that she was different. Where the rest of us would have put a bullet in Ophelia's head when a doctor wasn't looking, Arielle showed her compassion. I went to my room that night and I cried. Usually I fancied myself too tough to cry, but I wept that night. I cried for Ophelia, and the sorrow I felt… wondering what the hell happened to her to make her the woman she was now. I also cried that night out of disgust in myself. Arielle showed me another way of life that day, and after seeing that, I wanted to be that way… too bad I failed miserably. 

A couple days later we were ready for our next match. It was an assault event against some pack of weirdoes called the Necris. In a nutshell, we had to overtake a base that the Necris held, and if there were any survivors after the first round, we would keep taking turns attacking and defending until either one team finally gave up, or was so crippled they were forced to forfeit. We didn't even bother mingling with the Necris before this match; casualties in this type of match were inevitable, so we decided it would be best not to get to know our opponents even if we wanted to. We watched the Necris take up positions in their little makeshift base. We were stationed in a cave on a manmade beach, while the Necris would be defending a submarine. All we really knew was that we had to push our way in, blow a lot of crap up, and take the control room. The alarm sounded and we all ran along the rock wall of the beach in a single file. A machinegun suddenly peppered our area with bullets and we had no choice but to double back to the cave and make up a new plan; meanwhile the clock still ticked down, which is why I think Bjorn didn't put much thought into his next plan. He handed Arielle a sniper rifle and ordered her to take out the Necris that manned that turret on the submarine. She squatted and leaned slightly around the corner, one shot later she gave us the report that a messy headshot had taken care of our machinegun problem. We had to move fast before they got a new gunner up there. Bjorn motioned for us to run as fast as we could into the submarine, and like soldiers, we followed our orders. Bjorn led the sprint up the dock and into the doorway. I was directly behind Bjorn and followed my leader closely, any closer and I could have died. The second Bjorn entered the doorway a bursting cloud of blood sprayed my face. I momentarily stopped from the shock as I watched Bjorn fall to the ground, his face mangled by the flak cannon that shot him at pointblank range. Not even a second later my senses returned and I turned my flak cannon on the son of a bitch that shot him. I wish I could recall what he looked like, but I didn't wait long enough to take in any of his features except for his terrified eyes as the burning shrapnel ripped his head apart. I hated to do it but we left Bjorn behind, we had to finish the assault, he would have wanted it that way. We were without a leader and disorganized, so we came up with a quick strategy… kill everything, forcing a forfeit. We blasted our way through the Necris with no mercy, Ophelia was not with us that day, but damned that would have been the one time we needed her the most. By the time we reached the control room we had eliminated all the Necris except their leader, and we had only lost Bjorn. He quickly surrendered to us when he realized how outnumbered he was. To hell with surrender, I was about to kill him right then and there, but again, Arielle was the cooler head. She accepted his surrender, and we won the match. If I had known that vampire wannabe would have formed another team years later I wouldn't have listened to Arielle and I would have killed him… yeah, you're right… I would always listen to her. Our victory was bittersweet, we all felt sorrow from the loss of our leader, until a medic ran to us and brought us down to Bjorn. I refused to accept the words at first, I thought maybe he was playing with us, but it was true, Bjorn WAS still alive, if only barely. We came just in time to see the medics airlift him and the life-support equipment into a cruiser to take him to a nearby medical facility. Chances of him actually surviving were slim, but the fact that he was still alive was a sign enough of his strength. I sat in the sand in shock after watching the cruiser take off with him, the man had taken the equivalent to a burning shotgun blast in the face at pointblank and was alive to recall it. Regrettably his eyes and throat were destroyed by the blast, but I'll be damned if he wouldn't be the toughest blind mute I would ever know.

Two days later we were called. The emergency surgery somehow was a success, and Bjorn would live, he would never make a full recovery obviously, but he would live. I walked in front of the others down the hallway of the hospital, dreading his room that was coming closer and closer. The doctor greeted us and said one of us could go in, somehow I wound up being nominated for the task. I walked in slowly and quite nervous. I was amazed to see him sitting up in his bed, holding a hand mirror in front of him. He lowered the mirror, and what I saw broke my heart. His eyes were now mechanical orbs with a pinhole red light that acted as an iris, they whirred as they looked up and focused on me.   
"Bjorn? You can see?"  
"Yeah." His throat and vocal chords had been rebuilt, his voice was raspy and weak, but he spoke. "Barely… I… I'm not used to this." How could he be? How could he spend a lifetime with one set of eyes and then have to immediately adapt to something else? I sat with Bjorn for several hours, the poor guy. He seemed like he was not fully believing it all, like it was all a horrible nightmare… but he couldn't wake up.

* * *

Well, I guess that covers how poor Bjorn got so banged up in the first Unreal Tourny. Keep on reading.  



	8. Chapter 7: Rough Seasons

Epic and Atari owning it

* * *

Chapter 7: Rough Seasons  
So, that was the start of our first official season. In our first two matches, we had a team member killed, and Bjorn destroyed beyond recognition. Bjorn obviously wasn't ready to just hop back into competition after that experience, and he sat out the remainder of the year to rehabilitate his senses, and to try to cope with the physical and mental trauma that he had to have been suffering. With Bjorn out the rest of the season, our team was just a loose cannon. Constant arguments as to who should take charge left us way lower in the ranks than we should have been. Arielle and myself managed to gain some kind of a leadership role as the season went on, the only real issue we had with Blake, the damn guy kept thinking he should have been in charge, and his damn ego cost us more matches than not since the idiot never listened to a damn order... kinda glad the guy died a few seasons later… what? Did you think that jackass would actually live to see retirement from the tournament? We lost matches that by all accounts we should have had in the bag in comparison to skill, but we were not organized and always fell apart midway through a match. Anyways, we didn't even see the semi finals that year, we got eliminated in the quarters by Thunder Crash, who went on the win the team aspects of the tournament, and Malcolm made it to the finals, but this Liandri robot, Xan… damn that thing could fight, it made short work of Malcolm and claimed the title of champion in the first season. Yeah, I know I left a lot out of season one, but seriously, it's a season I'd rather forget. Our second season didn't go much better. Bjorn was still unable to compete, Arielle and I tried to lead a team that was going nowhere, but we didn't do too great. The season went similar to the previous, several casualties, a few fatalities… it got to the extent that if you were around long enough for the fans to remember your name, you were one of the luckiest people in the tournament. Ophelia set a record that season that still to this day has yet to be broken… most fatalities in a single match by one competitor. The crazy bitch killed six of our eight opponents, when the other two saw her coming they surrendered, problem is that they were a little TOO slow to react, she wound up killing one of them anyways, and last I heard the other guy is still alive, but his legs haven't worked since that day. Outside the tournament, Ophelia just seemed to be getting worse and worse. She still would sit in her private chamber, strapped into a wheelchair facing out a window and fed through an I.V. Arielle seemed to be the only one that could reach her, and even she rarely ever got so much as a word or a visible acknowledgement from Ophelia. The doctors that always checked up on her, some quacks from some asylum for the criminally insane, kept saying that she was "sinking deeper", whatever the hell that meant I don't know but it could not have been good. They upped her dosages on drugs and tranquilizers, I swear there were days at a time she would go without even blinking. I began to feel angry for Ophelia, instead of trying to help her, the doctors just kept her sedated and hoped she wouldn't survive the next match we dragged her into. Our second season ended horribly, we didn't even see the quarter finals that season. The Iron Guard won the season that year, and Brock had the chance to take on Xan. Sadly, Brock had about as much luck against Xan as Malcolm had, and Xan became a repeat champion. 

The third season started off in much better fashion than the previous two. We received word that Bjorn was in fact almost ready to make his return, and we had no doubts in our minds that he would at least lead us to the semi finals that season. After three matches, Bjorn returned. He had dropped the codename "Eagle" and told us all that we would no longer go by silly codenames, but that we were human beings that deserved to be called by our names. Bjorn had returned with an intense fury, and all season we dominated. Thunder Crash even had difficulty handling us, yours truly even managed to put Malcolm on the shelf for half the season with a leg injury. That season was also the début season for android teams and a team composed of the usually pacifistic race, the Nali. We sadly lost Ramirez that season, an android solider named Virus blew a hole right through his chest with a shock rifle, a new weapon introduced that season. Ramirez died how he would have wanted to though; it was an assault match, the final objective for that match was to bomb a section of a base and as Ramirez' body went to sleep from the lack of blood, he took the bomb and dove headlong into the heavily guarded sector that required detonation, taking the base and the entire android team down with him. The heroic act took the award for play of the year amongst other awards… too bad the poor bastard never lived to appreciate them. But Ramirez' sacrifice bought us a spot in the quarter finals, where we wiped the floor with a team called the Crimson Guard. We never saw that team again, sadly, but that's the sport. The Semi finals saw us pitted against the Necris. They were far more coordinated and skilled than when we previously battled them, but Bjorn had a huge chip on his shoulder and damn near single-handedly took care of them in our assault match… I still kinda chuckle when I think of how he ran right into their entire team by himself and crippled many of their competitors with his link gun. We saw the Iron Guard in the finals, we wanted it so badly and this was our chance to overthrow the last season's champions. Regrettably they managed to win the capture the flag game we were competing in, but our season finish was a hell of a lot better than the last two, so we had little regrets. Lauren, the co-leader of Iron Guard, went on the face Xan, damned if she nearly didn't beat the bastard to. She gave him the best run for his money he had seen to date, but he still managed to edge out a victory… a lot of us began to wonder if Xan could EVER be defeated.

* * *

Yeah, I am kind of rushing the in arena action along, but honestly what happens in the arena only makes up about a third of the story, don't worry it will be getting better.  



	9. Chapter 8: Double kill

Chapter 8: Double kill  
So, season four began; finally a season where things were just going right for us... at least for a while. It was a rollercoaster season for us to say the least. In our season opener we humiliated a team of Nali in a domination match, and things just rolled well from there. The league offices had issued some new weapons to the arsenal, my personal favorite was the assault rifle. Though it lacked in comparison to the other weapons when it came to firepower, it was one of the most damned accurate weapons I could handle plus reloading was quick and easy. The lightning gun was also introduced since the Liandri offices banned sniper rifles from the tournament, a move that very much upset Arielle since she was one of the best damned snipers I ever had the honour of fighting alongside. The real threatening addition though was the ion cannon. It's primary fire simply emitted a laser to paint a target, but damn when that secondary fire went off, get the hell away from the blast radius. Another change that was made by Liandri was the removal of assault matches. Since the competitors became too blood-thirsty, many of the matches only lasted one round before the other team was entirely wiped out. Ratings plummeted because of this decision, it was common knowledge that fans loved assault, and now that it was gone, people stopped watching… I suppose that's why new weapons were added. Despite all the drastic changes that occurred that season, we still kicked the ass of every team that dared come against us, even our allies the Iron Guard. A new type of competitor was also added that year, the Juggernauts. This was a group of science experiments gone wrong, then placed in the thickest battle armour you'd ever seen. Genetic and cybernetic enhancements made a single juggernaut more than a handful for a small squad of competitors, which led to them quickly rising to dominate the death matches. Outside of the death matches we held the top ranking in every match type, I was happy to let it stay that way, but Bjorn, damn Bjorn, he had to get too ambitious.

I remember sitting in the study of the dorms when Bjorn gathered us together. His cybernetic eyes panning over us.  
"Juggernaut has been getting far too much momentum lately, they're going to start invading the other brackets soon. I say we beat them to the punch and show them what the Dark Phalanx is all about." Only Blake seemed excited about this decision… stupid kid, he never even knew what was coming. "I have accepted an open challenge thrown down by Gorge, their leader. Next Thursday we meet Juggernaut in a team death match, standard rules will apply. A point per take down, but I'll be candid right now in saying don't feel upset if an accident happens and a few of them don't make it out alive, understood?" We all nodded in hesitant agreement, I wanted so badly to say "No Bjorn, I won't go." but mine was to follow, his was to lead.

Thursday came. We piled out of our transport and stood outside of what was an incredible facility. The entire arena was placed in a valley, but the bases on the outside were crafted like ancient Japanese structures, and further down the valley were bridges and tunnels of the same design, it was breath-taking. As the marshals did their usual routine with Ophelia, we could hear the other transport hovering down into the valley at the base somewhere behind the mountains. The buzzer sounded and we immediately took defensive positions in our base, if there was one thing we knew about our opponents, it was that they would be attacking fast and viciously. Several minutes passed, and we were wondering where our enemy was, by all accounts they should have been all over us by that time. Then Blake started to get antsy… the poor idiot never even saw it coming. He peeked around a corner to look out the front door of the base and in a blink of an eye a round from a lightning gun flew clean through his head and out the other side, he was dead before he hit the floor.   
"Steady!" Bjorn shouted as we heard them running up our front staircase. Gorge led his Juggernauts into the front hall of our base and we opened fire. I emptied an entire clip from my assault rifle into Gorge's chest and it didn't even slow him down. He didn't even fire a gun at me but swung his heavily armoured arm instead and knocked me right out the door and sent me rolling down the stairs. The score buzzer sounded quickly, signaling another point for Juggernaut… at least I was still alive. I managed to get up as my team mates all came running out of the base, we were missing a few… not a good sign. "Fall back to the caves!" Bjorn ordered us. We ran as fast as we could towards the opening in the mountains, but a lightning round blew its way clear through Bjorn's knee. Bjorn crumpled to the ground and slid in the mud. I doubled back to get him but he waved me away. "Get out of here!" he ordered, I hesitated but followed everyone else into the cave. We looked from the shadows as the Juggernaut team filed confidently out of the base, not paying any mind to anything except for our fallen leader who laid in the middle of the field. We all had to fight our urges to run out and defend Bjorn, we all knew a frontal assault on the Juggernaut team was suicide. We had only taken one down so far all match where we had lost four, and looked like we were about to lose our fifth, which would be grounds for a forfeit. The Juggernaut team hovered over Bjorn. A male Juggernaut stepped out from the circle and stared down at Bjorn, he was the Juggernaut known as Ravage, but something was oddly familiar about him. I took Arielle's lightning gun and looked through the scope. It was Condor from my first match. He was so different now, he was pale, looked almost inhuman, the experiments on him had warped him almost beyond recognition. Bjorn looked up in fear at Ravage, clearly he also recognized who he was looking up at.  
"You said I wasn't good enough, Bjorn. Now look at you, you lay here helpless while I stand over you, your very life is my plaything." I knew I was a lousy sniper, I couldn't have taken Ravage out, but I tried anyways. The lightning blast shot behind Ravage's head and took out a Juggernaut that stood behind him… at least I got one I suppose. Ravage looked at the cave and shouted taunts to us, but we never had the nerve to come out and face them. Ravage then took out a rocket launcher and held it in one huge armoured hand. He looked down at the barrel that dangled tauntingly over Bjorn's head, Bjorn was unable to move even if it WAS possible to dodge the blast. Ravage stared down at Bjorn for several seconds and then pulled the trigger. The sound was deafening, even in the caves our ears rang for a while from the explosion. That was five kills, the forfeit buzzer would go off in fifteen seconds. I threw down my assault rifle and grabbed a ripper that lay in the shadowed corner and ran into the daylight, screaming like a maniac. I fired relentlessly as I ran closer to the Juggernaut team, who was not expecting any opposition after the fifth kill, especially not from one lone soldier. I fired at the closest, a Juggernaut named Plague, he didn't even get a shot off before the ripper sliced his arm right off, even through the armour. I fired at random at the Juggernaut team, now that I knew those damned ripper blades could penetrate even that armour. I saved one blade though until I was close enough to aim properly. One special blade was reserved, it was reserved for Ravage. I stopped about twenty feet from Ravage. He lifted his rocket launcher to fire at me, but he missed me terribly, I suppose standing right next to the blast effected his steadiness, last mistake he would ever make anyways. I let the blade fly and the world seemed to slow down. The sickening sound of the blade leaving the gun usually made me feel nauseous with fear, but now I salivated from the sound, knowing it was not for me, but for the piece of trash that stood before me. The blade spun in a blur and made a loud clang as it cut through the neck support of his armour, removed his head, and continued its path until it hit the wall of the base and stuck into the rock like a dart. The forfeit buzzer sounded just as Ravage's corpse hit the ground. Final score, Juggernaut with five fatalities and three casualties and Dark Phalanx with four fatalities and no remaining casualties. We killed four of them and heavily wounded three… but Juggernaut had been more thorough and made sure casualties didn't stay casualties for long. Immediately the weapons went inactive as the buzzer ended. Gorge and I stood face to face with our guns ready, but the triggers only clicked. Without order, Juggernaut gathered their wounded, but left their dead. My team mates slowly emerged from the cave once Juggernaut left. They gathered four bodies, sadly there was not enough left of Bjorn to classify as a "body".

* * *

Now begins the downward spiral that Jordan will be going on. Poor Bjorn is gone now, and Gorge is pissed. Read on  



	10. Chapter 9: Where do we go from here?

Atari and Epic own it

* * *

Chapter 9: Where do we go from here?  
So there we sat that night. We quietly mourned Bjorn's death in the study of our dorms. He had cheated death once, but now there was nothing left to even recognize. We were obviously disheartened by the loss of our other team mates, but Bjorn was our leader, our captain, and my mentor. The hours passed in melancholy silence until finally a new recruit named Anthony spoke up.  
"So… what now?" That was an excellent question. Immediately the younger soldiers said that Arielle or myself should take over, since we were now the veterans. It went from discussion to arguing very quickly though as the decision of a new leader added fuel to everyone's already volatile emotions. Arielle stood up and silenced everyone.  
"Stop it, all of you!" Everyone quieted down. "We've had too many losses today to do this to one another, we need to be a team now more than ever. If you want Jordan and me to lead the team, then we will, together though. It may be best that we have two leaders in case a scenario like today happens again, alright?" Everyone slowly nodded in agreement. "Now, we're all really on edge, so I think we should all call it a night and get ourselves some rest." Dark Phalanx slowly filtered out of the study and into their own dorms as the minutes passed. I was impressed how Arielle handled the situation, perhaps I was the more skilled soldier, but she was a hell of a lot better natural leader than I would ever be. 

I began to undress for bed. My hair still dripped a little from the shower I had just taken, but I couldn't be bothered to properly dry it, I just wanted to forget that day. A knock came from my door, I grumbled and put my pants back on before I went to the door. I opened it up and in my doorway stood Arielle, always a pleasant surprise. Then I looked down and saw her wearing a very short robe that tied around her small waist, also a pleasant surprise. She walked in and closed the door behind her.  
"You okay?" she asked me, pacing awkwardly around my dorm. I nodded and tried not to look at her too much. "Are you sure? I know you really admired him."  
"I'm fine." I said trying not to sound too distant. Arielle then untied her robe and let it fall to the ground. I couldn't help but notice her incredible body that stood before me. She came close to me and put her hands on my shoulders and kissed me. I went with it, hell if I was going to complain, I'd been waiting for this for years. She pulled away and looked down.  
"I think we both need this, we've had a rough day." I was momentarily confused until she ordered me to lose my pants, then I knew what she meant.

I rubbed my eyes as the morning light shone into my dorm. I looked over to see Arielle asleep next to me, it hadn't been a dream… thank you God. I got out of bed and headed to the shower. She was awake by the time I got back to my room, she sat on the edge of my bed, wrapped in her robe.  
"Sorry." she said calmly.  
"About what?" I answered.  
"Last night, was I wrong? This won't make things weird will it?" Damn, I had hoped she wanted to be with me, turned out she was just as frustrated and in need of a vent as I was.  
"Nah, it's cool."  
"Okay… good." She looked down at my floor for a bit then stood up. "I should get back to my room." She quickly left and closed my door. I fell back in my bed and sighed. I should have been the happiest guy alive, I just had a night with the woman I'd wanted for years, but instead I felt like an ass… when a woman is worried if a night of sex will interfere with a professional relationship, you know you're never gonna get a second night. I look at it now and I guess I should have been happy I at least got that, but I guess I was never sure if I only wanted that, or something more.

Needless to say, without experienced leadership, we slipped in the standings a little for the second half of the season, Juggernaut on the other hand was on fire and steamrolled through every team and by the end of the season they were on top in every match type… a feat never accomplished before in the tournament by any team. As a result, Gorge was offered a direct allowed match with Xan instead of having to have finals, but the sick bastard asked for one death match before his championship match with Xan. He was allowed to select every single one of his opponents, needless to say everyone who he had an unsettled score with, he requested to be in that match, myself included.

Two days later I was on board a starship that had been converted into an arena and awaited the ten man match to begin. I had a solid strategy going into that match: avoid Gorge at all costs. The buzzer rang and immediately I started running into the next room, making sure to keep moving in case Gorge DID find me. There was an interesting stipulation to this match: if somehow Gorge was not to win, the winner would get Gorge's shot at Xan for the championship. I had to fight that temptation, I had to stay focused… hell, I had to stay alive. I ran into the next room and saw an Iron Guard and a Thundercrash soldier in a firefight, they didn't even notice me. I took the gamble and opened fire with my assault rifle, aiming for the heads. Both soldiers fell dead, and I shot up to first on the scoreboard. Seconds later I saw Gorge running down a ramp into the room I was in. I dove down a nearby ramp and sprinted for all I was worth, hoping he never saw me. Suddenly the scoreboard shot up, Gorge now had three kills, taking first place over my two… Gorge wasn't playing for points, he was playing for keeps. I rounded a corner and came face to face with a member of the Hellions. I jumped quickly to my side to dodge his flak rifle fire. The shrapnel bounced back at him and sliced him up pretty bad. I took an enforcer and fired a single bullet into the side of his head, tying the game. There were four of us left, Gorge and I were tied at three kills each. I just kept moving after I picked up the flak rifle. I ran down a long corridor and came across a Necris soldier. Before he even saw me I blew his head off from behind via flak rifle. I looked up at the board, I was up by one kill, all that remained was Gorge, myself and a Nali commando, and the timer was down to mere seconds. I felt electric, I was going to beat out Gorge and take his championship match against Xan! Then just before the buzzer sounded, the Nali died… Gorge and I tied at four kills apiece. Liandri officials thought fast and declared a three-way match for the championship, declaring that Xan was now somewhere in the arena. The buzzer sounded, signaling the start of the final match. I trembled, I never imagined going into that day that I would be in the championship match. Xan came out of nowhere and opened fire with a minigun. I felt each bullet punch my armour, winding me. I had no choice but to fall onto my back and lay in pain for a few moments. Xan scored a point already. The droid shouted a robotic taunt at me and just kept running, allowing me to get back to my feet. The match went on like this for a while, I had really no choice but to let Xan and Gorge go at each other and then try to pick up the pieces when they were both weakened… either of them could have trashed me in a frontal assault, I wasn't even willing to TRY both at once. When the alarm for the last minute of play sounded, I took a quick look at the scoreboard. Xan was ahead of Gorge by a point, and I was behind Gorge by only three points, I could still do it. I found a ripper and narrowed my eyes, this baby was my best chance to get the edge on those two. I caught Gorge from behind and fired a blade into the back of his armour. It stuck in and knocked him down, gaining me pair of points for the takedown and the critical hit on Gorge. I rounded a corner and waited until Gorge got up, then I quickly ran back around and took him down again, gaining another point, leaving me tied with Xan. I ran hard looking for Xan, I had fifteen seconds to find him and take him down. I sprinted into a corridor and saw him… ten seconds. I fired a ripper blade and it cut off his left arm, sadly for me he shoots with his right. He blasted me with his minigun, taking my strength down quickly… five seconds. I forced myself to stay on my feet and fired off another blade…

* * *

Who's going to win who's going to win oh my God the suspense!... sorry, keep reading.

* * *


	11. Chapter 10: Changes

Guess what, Atari and Epic own it all and I got nothing

* * *

Chapter 10: Changes  
As the blade left my gun, I was caught off guard by a splash of explosion that came down between Xan and myself. The rocket hit the ground and the force knocked both Xan and myself to the ground, too wounded to get back up… Gorge got the pair of points for a double takedown just as the buzzer rang, putting him up on Xan by a single point. I stared down at the steel deck of the ship as the realization sank in that Gorge was the new champion. Xan didn't move, he simply laid there and stared at the ceiling… to this day I swear I thought I saw him breathing heavily. Gorge raised his massive armoured arms in victory as he was teleported out of the arena and to the championship pedestal. Xan and I laid in quiet shock for several moments until he finally sat up. I managed to push myself up to my hands and knees and tried to regain my senses. I turned my head and looked at him as I leaned back to kneel. He looked at me, he then looked down at his dismembered arm as it sparked from the dangling wires. He looked at the floor and threw his gun away, growling with frustration. The gun skidded and clanged as it flew down the hall.  
"I had you." Xan finally said coldly. I forced myself up to my feet and looked down at him.  
"Well, from my vantage point I had you teetering also." Xan growled again and slammed his fist onto the deck, actually cracking the solid steel. What I saw next… I don't know to this day if I really saw it or if it was just the post-carnage dillusion, but Xan put his head down onto his knees, and I swear I thought I heard him… crying? Robots don't cry… but at the time I never gave it a second thought. I pitied Xan actually, he was on top for years, and he lost his championship in such a… cheap manner. Gorge's shot was a cheapshot at both of us, I wouldn't go as far as to say it was luck, but it was totally a cheapshot. I left Xan alone on that ship, pitying him and resenting him at the same time. 

Xan dropped out of existence more or less the following season. Liandri re-instated the assault games much to public demand, and also brought back the sniper rifle, much to Arielle's approval. The ripper had finally been retired from the tournament due to it's unnecessarily overly violent nature. Vehicles had been added to a new match type called Onslaught… it was looking to be an exciting year. The Nali had dropped out of tournament participation that season as they were at war with a new race to enter the ranks… the Skaarj. You have not seen scary until you've seen one of those things up close. The Skaarj had been banned from the tournament for several years because mankind was at war with them, but now that they had turned their attention onto the Nali, our kind, in all our infinite wisdom, decided to let them in. This was also the season that would mark the end of the Dark Phalanx… and when my life began to lose its meaning… it all began with the season opener.

Our season opener was capture the flag match against one of the Skaarj teams. We were not looking forward to taking on a new opponent that we had no chance to scout yet, so needless to say, we were going in worried. Now, for those of you that have been living under a rock since the mid twenty-first century, I'll bring you up to speed. The Skaarj had been at war with mankind for several years, and more than once nearly threatened the very existence of our kind. They were known as ruthless, aggressive and bloodthirsty enemies on the battlefield… which is why I guess Liandri brought them in. The Skaarj roused interest from many viewers, their past reputation from the wars made them enigmatic to the viewers, plus it gave viewers a team they could always hate. Humanity will always deny it, but we hate anything that is not us, and the Skaarj provided fans with a team they could always hate no matter what. Anyways, back to the match… It was capture the flag against the Skaarj, also the day something died inside of me. I was with Arielle and a bunch of new recruits, we had divided the team to guard and attack, Arielle and I led the attack. I don't know what the hell I was thinking taking her with me into the attack. I took her into an enemy we had no experience or knowledge of… it was my fault. We ran across a bridge to their base, there was another bridge running parallel to us, and the entire Skarrj team went on the offensive. Arielle and I laughed the entire way to the flag, grabbed and still laughed as we left their base with it. We came to the bridge and then the Skaarj opened fire on us. I yelled at the pair of rookies with us to provide covering fire while I escorted Arielle to the base with the flag, covering her with fire. We got across the bridge and noticed that the Skaarj had out flag, I figured I could get it back once Arielle was safe in our base. We ran into the base and slammed right into the scaley chest of a Skaarj. He towered over us, but his eyes only looked at the flag in Arielle's hands. He swatted me away like I was nothing and then claws drew from his wrist gauntlets. I heard Arielle scream and by the time I was looking back up to see her she was dangling off the ground with the claws impaling her stomach. The Skaarj soldier threw her to the side like a piece of garbage and picked the flag back up and left with it. I didn't even care that we had lost the match. I ran to Arielle and cradled her in my arms, but she was dead. I wept… no, I bawled. As those damned Skaarj celebrated their first victory I already was planning my revenge.

* * *

Bad day eh? read on  



	12. Chapter 11: Unleashed

Epic and Atari own all characters, places, items etc etc

* * *

Chapter 11: Unleashed  
Yet again I sat in the study wearing that same black suit I'd donned so often for the funeral of a teammate. I boiled, I had never been so angry in my life. I had managed to pinpoint the exact Skaarj that killed Arielle and demanded a one on one death match from the head office, but they refused. "Dominator" as he called himself also refused to accept my challenge, stating that a one on one match would not be worth his trouble. I left the study and went to my dorm. I removed my suit and turned on my computer, and after several hours of surfing the internet and sneaking into some databases I shouldn't have been in, I found some much needed information on that monster. Dominator's birth name on his home world was Ankh'Tur. After the Skaarj wars he had brought his family to a human-run planet reserve that acted as a safe haven for Skaarj that wished to leave their old lives behind, but knew they would not be allowed to live on their home world for that. He had four wives and fifteen children… and I knew exactly where they were. 

I marched into the head office, as I did every day, and pleaded my case for a one on one match against Dominator, and again I was turned down.  
"You can't let this get so personal, Jordan." One of the promoters told me, little did he know that Dominator already made this personal, I was just going to take it further. This was the day I would make my choice, I knew I would get turned down again for a match, so now I had to take matters into my own hands.

I returned to the dorms and headed for Ophelia's chamber. I carried in my hand a roster photograph of that damn Dominator, I would need it… bloodhounds always need something to track. I entered Ophelia's room and walked to her wheelchair that she sat strapped into. I pulled the sedative-feeding I.V. from her arm and knelt in front of her for several minutes. Her eyes began to focus and she looked around weakly.  
"Friend? Arielle?" I choked for a moment, I hate myself for what I did to her, but at the time I just didn't think.  
"I'm sorry Ophelia, Arielle is dead." Ophelia sat silently and did not move, but tears formed in her eyes. I held up the picture of Dominator. "This is the beast that stole her from us." I leaned forward, putting Dominator's image right in her face. "Look at him, this is the soulless mongrel that took our friend, he doesn't deserve to live, does he?" Ophelia tilted her head weakly, like she was about to faint.  
"Doesn't deserve to live."  
"Look at him Ophelia, are we going to let him get away with killing Arielle? We can't! He hurt her, he cut her, he murdered her." Ophelia twitched violently, and at this moment I became something that's not even any kind of excuse for a man. I reached out and unlocked her restraints. "Kill him Ophelia. Bring him to justice, make Arielle proud." Ophelia weakly stood, I left the picture on the floor to play with her mind as I left. She would need a distraction if she were to escape, so I had to provide her with one. I called the Dark Phalanx all together for a meeting, and since Ophelia's room was unlocked, she could easily sneak out while the meeting took place. As the soldiers gathered, I looked at them and felt no remorse for what I was about to do.  
"For several years we've been a great team." I began, trying to sound as positive as possible. "There's no way I can say this easily so I'll just say it. I'm disbanding the Dark Phalanx." Everyone was obviously shocked, but I didn't care. "You're all free, form a new team if you wish, become mercs, be singles competitors… do what you wish… but the Dark Phalanx is no more." Little did I know that I would have started a trend that day. That same season the Iron Guard also disbanded, and Malcolm would leave Thunder Crash to ally up with Brock and Lauren of the former Iron Guard, but that doesn't matter right now. I remember the disappointed looks on their faces, but many of them benefited greatly from it. A young Asian woman codenamed Sapphire would go on to become a great competitor down the road, and a pair of rookie twin brothers, Romulus and Remus also would take up the torch several years later as the future of the tournament. All I cared about at the time was that Ophelia escaped. I went back to her room and was pleased at the sight. There on the floor was her wheelchair on its side, the big window shattered, and the photograph of Dominator nowhere to be found.

Days later word got around that Ophelia was running rampant, offering her services as a merc in team games, but only games against the Skaarj. Now that she was free of that respirator and those sedatives, she was a flame of hate that hunted and killed more Skaarj than anyone else that season, but Dominator kept slipping out of her grasp. Head office got wise to my plan and gave me a slap on the wrist for unleashing Ophelia on the Skaarj. Dominator still would not face me one on one, not that it mattered as I was soon suspended for my plan involving Ophelia. I realized what I was doing was not enough, I needed to push the envelope more. I was now banned from sanctioned events, so if I wanted Dominator, I had to get him outside of the arenas, something that would be hard to do, unless I made him come for me.

I'm a man of many regrets, but what I did one week later is my biggest. I managed to use a few connections to get a smuggling ship to give Ophelia a ride to the planet reserve that Dominator's family was safe-guarded on. My plan was beyond sadistic, no sane man would lower himself to this. My plan was to get Ophelia on that planet, under the impression that Dominator was there. Naturally she would cause a stir, Dominator would come to protect his family and one of them would die, then all I would have to do is simply kill the other one and all my troubles were behind me. I managed to get another contact to give me a lift to that same planet, and for a few bucks extra he supplied me with munitions and a small one man fighter. I stationed myself on that rock and waited. Within a few days I began to hear reports of Ophelia running rampant throughout the camps, but she wasn't alone. She had recruited the aid of the Hellions, a faction of failed pirates turned merc, and they provided her with the manpower to overthrow the guards of the camps and slaughter the Skaarj settlers with extreme prejudice. Naturally I also made sure to hear word of when Dominator and some of his team mates would arrive to protect their families. Once I received word of Dominator's arrival though, I had to rethink my plan. Dominator had brought his entire team to watch his back, and Ophelia had the Hellions. I should have known that they both would have brought back up, but at that time I was truly mad. My contact informed me that Ophelia and the Hellions had breached the camp that Dominator's family had resided in, and had brutally murdered them. I had to act. I got into my Raptor and took to the air, punching in the coordinates of the camp. I flew over the camps, looking at the destruction and death below me, and realized what little humanity I had left was now indeed dead. I had taken this too far, an entire race was being butchered because of my lust for revenge, but even at that time I didn't care, I just wanted to sweep it all under the carpet. I found the camp and the Hellions were just about to enter a fray with Dominator's team. I flew overhead and dropped bombs repeatedly. Explosions mangled the bodies of human and Skaarj alike, and I didn't care… I just wanted it over. The few remaining settlers that hadn't been already massacred were needlessly destroyed by the firefight and my bombs, I don't think I could count the casualties if I tried. Finally once it looked safe enough, I touched down with the Raptor and surveyed the area. Ophelia was nowhere to be seen, but I found what I wanted, Dominator laying in a heap on the ground. He looked up at me as I stood over him. He snarled with anger, but his broken body could not do anything. "Was it worth it?" he growled in forced English. I stepped back in shock as this thing spoke to me. "My people… my wives… my children… all of this death just to quench your thirst. Are you satisfied?" I never had considered the Skaarj to be people, not human anyways, not like I should have been. I fell to my knees and stared into the bloody face of this large Skaarj warrior. "You've gotten your revenge, my wounds will kill me slowly and painfully. My body is too broken to ever come after you, you've won, leave me to suffer… or would you rather sit here and watch until the agony finally overcomes me?" I choked and slowly stood. I pulled an enforcer from my jacket and looked down at it. Earlier that day I would have had no problems leaving Dominator in a shattered pile to lay there for days in agony until death finally ended his torture, but now I couldn't. I lifted the gun and shot a single bullet into his head, ending his pain.

* * *

Jordan has gotten his revenge, but was it worth the cost? What will become of Jordan now? Final chapter is next.  



	13. Chapter 12: The Downward Spiral

Atari and Epic own all

* * *

Chapter 12: The Downward Spiral  
I sat at home the remainder of that season, somehow I was able to cover my tracks enough to keep the officials from knowing I was even on the settlement planet at the time of the massacre. Liandri appointed Ophelia responsible for the entire thing, how she even survived is a mystery to me to this day. I hated sitting at home that season, watching what I could have been a part of. An old soldier named Arkon made his return to the tournament after retiring several years before, sadly he died before the end of the season, one of those nutbar Nitemare members took him out. Malcolm dominated the season with Brock and Lauren watching his back, and actually managed to overthrow Gorge as the champ that season, he re-aggravated his leg injury that was originally given to him by yours truly, but he pulled out a win. The world was shocked that Xan never resurfaced, and he was soon forgotten. Thunder Crash spiraled down the standings without the leadership of Malcolm as the Iron Guard also slipped down the ranks without their strongest links. An upstart team that called themselves Supernova took the world by surprise coming literally out of nowhere and finishing the season in second place overall, only because they could have been first if they had another week or two. I recognized several faces in Supernova as former Phalanx, it was nice to see at least some were still sticking together. 

I had to spend the off-season in extensive therapy and counseling in order to be allowed back into the tournament, and eventually they consented to my return. My first match back was scary going in, I had been on the shelf for more than half a year… I would have been worried about being killed if I didn't so much wish it would happen. I was pitted in a death match against several other opponents. There was a pair of Nitemares, a Skaarj, a handful of Gorge's boys and a soldier who used to fight under me in the Dark Phalanx. I forget his name, Keith I think it was… it didn't matter anymore, he now went under the name Torch and was a higher up in Supernova. The siren sounded and we all went into our frenzies. The Skaarj immediately hunted me down and wanted my blood. He swung at me with those retractable steel claws they donned, sadly for him my flak cannon had a better reach. I didn't even bat an eye as his torso exploded with hot shrapnel, I was home. Torch and I formed a temporary alliance and took down the others effectively. The Nitemares were pushovers, clearly they were nowhere near as tough as they tried to look. As Torch killed one of them he actually took the freak's top hat and wore it for the rest of the match, very entertaining. Gorge's warriors were a little tougher, I wished at that point that they hadn't banned the rippers, but we did manage to take them down. It was then down to Torch and myself, I should have done the honourable thing and let him get distance then restart, but instead I shot him as soon as the last Juggernaut fell. I didn't kill Torch, maybe I'm sentimental, I just wounded him in his leg, he would only be out a month or two. That season was… oh who cares, after all those years all the seasons seemed the same. Yeah over the years I had my chance to be champion, I was in a few of the matches that could have crowned me, but I was always just that little bit off. Maybe it's best that a cynical, jaded son of a bitch like me was never champion, I doubt it could have saved me. I kept telling myself every year that maybe if I could be champion, that would be enough and I could finally walk away from this damn sport… I guess we'll never know. Nineteen years… nineteen God forsaken years. What have I done with my life? What do I have to show for it? If I retired or died tomorrow I doubt I would be remembered, I would become just another forgotten has been… or a never was. I was young, I loved, I had dreams, all of those are gone now. All I look forward to now is seeing the next body that falls at my feet. Eventually I did find Ophelia, and I killed her. Brock also died a few seasons ago at my hand. These were my allies, maybe even possibly friends, and I don't care, I kill them all the same. The Hellions I've all but destroyed myself, simply because I hate them and I don't even know why. The Necris, I've all but ended them, simply because I hate them for what happened in an assault game years ago. Juggernaut, I kill them whenever I get the chance, simply because I hate them for what they did to Bjorn. The Skaarj, I hate them because of Arielle. When Xan returned and brough his his Corrupt, I hated them simply because I hate Xan. The Thunder Crash, I hate them because I hate Malcolm… I hate Malcolm because I'm jealous of Malcolm… The Nitemare I hate simply because I don't understand them… why do I fight? I fight because I hate. I hate because I have no other emotions left but hate. What will I do when I run out of bodies to kill and teams to hate? What will I do when I can no longer focus my hate on sanctioned murder? Will my hate for myself finally overcome me? No matter, a man like me never will know Heaven, and I certainly have already grown accustomed to Hell.

* * *

Abrupt ending, yes. Was intended to be that way to show the final steps of Jordan's hopelessness and how he has become a man who simply doesn't care anymore. I know this story was really quite negative and I'm sure I will get some less than happy reviews, but I hope you liked it anyways.  



End file.
